Was asked to and agreed to lead the Bar monitoring team.
Got to Kampung Baru by 1pm, fearing that road blocks might make entry later difficult.
No such thing.
Whilst there was police presence, it was not overbearingly heavy.
A little after 2pm, after the Friday prayers, the crowd began to form, as did the police presence.
The seemingly small number of police and fru officers and the absence of any heavy artillery was glaring.
Although the original plan was to head down Jalan Raja Abdullah, then down Jalan Sultan Ismail and finally onto Jalan Ampang enroute to KLCC, plans had changed.
The crowd started to move down Jalan Raja Alang
and in about 15 minutes was on to Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman.
Here, too, the level of police presence was surprisingly low.
After some speeches, by 3pm, they were on their feet again and on their way to Jalan Raja Laut.
And at some point, police got ahead and appeared to be leading the crowd.
The march ended rather suddenly outside the PAS HQ on Jalan Raja Laut, the crowd being asked to disperse peacefully.
Crowd number? I’d estimate it at 2,000.
The heroes, if any?
PAS’s Unit Amal boys.
I leave you with some photos of banners and posters carried by some of the marchers.
raj raman 666
June 14, 2008
MR.haris,
U are good proxy for Malaysian and scape goat for bar council.
Why?
Do alot of proxy job on behalf of Malaysian who dont event shows face in whatever demo(like me) and whatever need to be champion for Malaysian.
FUel HIke.
This time the spin effect cant be control.Its a major disaster for Malaysian.Everyone effected.I can feel the worse not to come yet.Its will come soon.
rajraman – meanwhile tighten the seat belt-buy a ferrari because the road are at least 50% deserted and enjoy the drive.(chinese new year everyday since fuel hike but the chinese businessman dont celebrating this time around and the road is deserted).
Soon The BN save the billions and spend many more with new hopeless ideas and spend more billions to jump start economy-if they still have the brain to jump start.(its more way to pocket some)
meanwhile – looking like to cut everything but i try and try,nothing to cut,so better i cut myself from the fuel hike by staying home soon or go to venuezela and enjoy the chicks there.(which is haram for me to see chicks even to wash my eyes,malaysia also cant finish seeing because i am chicken in everything except in your cyberblog).
KEEP IT UP MR.HARIS-ONE FIND DAY I WILL FIND THE GUTS TO BE WALKING BESIDE YOUR GOODSELF.UNTIL THEN I USE U FOR MY BENEFITS AS PROXY.
ps.where is my guru sv singam?i miss his wisdom.Is he so badly hit by this economy?if not i need a consultant because my kaki of customer who are very rich cant give a clear picture what really happening.They are stuck in world of speculation this time.
TAKE NOTE.dont spend if you dont need.althou the economy need consumer driven economy, because the hit by Dato SRI aab his very blunt and the economy of malaysia is very blurr.unless u have rubber,tin mine,palm oil plantation or crude oil>our economy main contributor(from unofficial self appointed finacial consultant-raj raman)
HELP THE MALAYSIAN WHO BELIEVE IN YOU GOD.please.
Parli-Man
June 14, 2008
Haris,
I am pleased that there was a good turnout for the protest rally however there are 2 personal observations that i would like to state.
1. Malaysiakini’s estimate in counting the number of people attending rallies seem to always be very conservative. They need to correct this.
Steven Gan’s pre GE results prediction definately has to go down as very poor.
2. As usual there is complete bias on the police part in treating with rallies. Hindraf got it badly but any PAS participated rallies seem to be treated very cautiously. In that sense PAS should organize more events of these manner to bring down prices.
What is your take on this ?
Parli-man,
There’ve been PAS organised rallies where the police violence has been quite heightened, too.
Meng
June 14, 2008
“The seemingly small number of police and fru officers and the absence of any heavy artillery was glaring.”
Looks like the fuel hike also felt by the Police.
“And at some point, police got ahead and appeared to be leading the crowd.”
The fuel hike has triggered disatisfaction or perhaps anger amongst the middle and lower income group.
Their sentiment are more towards survival for their families. This demonstration is more of a different nature which naturally would garner the physical support of the whole population as opposed to other forms of demonstration. Take for example the Hindraf demonstration, yes they have the ppls support but a vast majority are silent supporters.
In this fuel hike demo, the police must tread finely and any wrong use of force would result in a much larger forceful and violent demo. The Police knows this and this is a popular grievances and cannot afford a chain reaction to take place.
Has the Police mellow down…NO. Of late there were some demo and the Police gave them 15 minutes to say their piece and the crowd dispersed peacefully.
Take the case of the Cheras demo, with repeated police actions, the residents were persistent in their action and each time a more violent outlook.
Looks like there will be good times ahead for future demon…well 15 mins, or one hour enough lah and disperse peacefully….but with limitations:No damage of public properties, stone throwing,unnecessary stopping of cars or spitting at passengers for not supporting the demo, etc etc of unruly behaviour.
pathfinder
June 14, 2008
It is confirmed. We are dealing with a bunch of liars. The chief is the biggest liar, a compulsive liar, and of course, leading by example the rest will follow with all the bullshits. That’s BN, Barisan Najis. Now Not only are we facing a liar, we are confronted with a dictator like mugabe dollah. On the one hand he ask us the understand the petrol increase because it is a global thing, on the other he refuses to give the demonstration a permit and refuses to see that this demonstration is a global thing as well. Just like petrol price increase the right to voice out against this increase is global right. Its obvious Only BN has the rights. Rakyat don’t have any rights unless given by BN. BN wants the rakyat to suffer in silence and to shut up. We must stand up to this tyrant and all his little napoleans……kerana mereka sentiasa bohong dan tipu rakyat. Kita yg bayar gaji mereka, kita yg bagi dia kuasa….tetapi apa terjadi……minyak miliki kita kita kena bayar harga pasaran… mengikut logik suatu hari yg akan datang durian miliki kita kalau dimakan kita kena bayar harga pasaran……..inilah logik BN.
malayamuda
June 14, 2008
Haris,
You are so modest ……definately more than 2,000.
Which school you went to ?
malayamuda,
No, no modesty here.
The photo that gives the impression the crowd was much bigger is that of the crowd passing thru Jalan Raja Alang. In fact, I too thought the crowd was much bigger based on this photo.
However, I think the crowd here also comprised many who were leaving the mosque who were caught in the crowd but were not part of it.
This appeared to be the case when one sees the side of the crowd that emerged from Jalan Raja alang onto Jalan TAR.
It is also more evident from the size of the crowd that sat in front of Sogo
donplaypuks
June 14, 2008
A Question for you Harris.
Would the FRU and Police have been so admirably restrained had a peaceful demo on petrol prices and inflation been led by Hindraf or Bandar Makhota residents? They also stood back in Penang when the demo was led by UMNO supporters.
I suspect that the fact that thes KL and other demos are PAS and Malay/Muslims led is the reason by this magnificent new-found ‘vigil from a distance’ stance by I Polis Raja.
Why were they not so understanding last October and may this year. We would have feted them, then.
Why the double standards?
donplaypuks,
My 2 sen.
My sense yesterday in the vicinity of the masjid in Kampung Baru was that there was such a small number of police/fru on hand because they ( police ) were determined at all costs to not have an engagement there for fear that it might get spun into something else ( police attacked people in the mosque, lah, or police fired water cannons and tear gas into the mosque, lah, etc, etc ).
Also, not everyone who emerged from the mosque after prayers joined in the demo.
For that reason, I think the police plan was to allow them to take off from the mosque and nab them either further down on Jalan Raja Abdullah, or on Jalan Sultan Ismail or on Jalan Ampang.
It may well be that the police were outfoxed yesterday, when the organisers switched to plan B and moved down Jalan Raja Alang, Jalan TAR and then Jalan Raja Laut.
As I said, my 2 sen
Kopi_O
June 14, 2008
I tell you, this is very true:
It’s simple, it’s fear, many malays are brainwashed frightened from young, fear the babi, fear the dog, fear the haram activities, fear hell, fear the christians, fear the jews, fear the chinese & fear the Indians or the dark skinned.
So when those simpletons FRU buggers saw frustrated Indians marching in large numbers & their leaders also saw them, we’ll let’s kick their ass they said. Most have also been brainwashed in camps about the fake Ketuanan Melayu concept & that the Indians & Chinese we’re given citizenship in exchange for being 2nd & 3rd class citizens & not to question Malay supremacy.
a concerned voter
June 14, 2008
Haris,you said that the police presence is lesser this time and they did not resort to violence. Could it be because it was held on a Friday which is a holy day for Muslim and at a predominantly Malay area? If that is the case,then let’s schedule all fuel hike demo in future on Fridays and at the same location to avoid any unnecessary accidents to the protestors.
a concerned voter,
See my response to donplaypuks